Introduction: How to Make the Vulcan Paper Airplane

About: Paper airplane maker: 400+ designs so far and more in development!

Fast, long range and versatile, the Vulcan is a very capable paper airplane. With its dart shape and canards, the Vulcan is very fast and can fly farther than most other paper airplanes. The Vulcan is intended as a multirole successor to dedicated aircraft like the Dagger, Viper, Panther and Black Widow.

The Vulcan came as the result of an attempt to develop a more capable variant of the Dagger, which the Vulcan retains some commonality with. The development effort was very successful; the Vulcan is more capable than the Dagger in every way. With this excellent performance demonstrated, the Vulcan was allotted an instructable.

TAA USAF Designation: F292-1

Step 1: Materials

Required:
1 Piece of 8.5 by 11 inch Paper
Tape
Pencil
Ruler
Optional:
Scissors (additional surfaces only)

Step 2: Length and Corner Folding

Take your paper and fold it along its length. Then pull the corners in and fold them into the center. Then flip the paper over and pull the creases of the corner folds inward.

Step 3: Nose Folding

Pull the corner folds inward as shown. Then pull the tip of the nose downward along the edges of the paper. Once you have made the nose blunt as shown, pull the blunt edge down to the trailing edge on the side with the airfoils. Measure 1 inch inward from the crease on the outer side and make a mark. Then pull the paper back forward, and crease at this 1 inch mark.

Step 4: Canard, Wing and Winglet Folding

Fold your paper airplane in half along its center. Measure 1 inch upwards along the trailing edge from the center crease and 1 inch inwards from the wingtip along the trailing edge. Fold the canards down as shown, aligning its leading edge with the fuselage to maintain an angle of incidence of zero degrees. Once you have done this, fold the wings down at the 1 inch mark you made previously. After this has been completed, fold each winglet at the 1 inch point you made previously.

Step 5: Taping

Apply tape to the nose above and below the canard, as well as to the LERX-wing joint. Then apply tape to the rear of the fuselage and over the wing root near the trailing edge. Once this has been done, apply tape to the canard folds to secure them to the fuselage. This will complete your Vulcan.

Step 6: Flight

The Vulcan is an able aircraft, but it can be somewhat complex and may require experience with simpler, more forgiving (but nonetheless comparable) paper airplanes like the StratoEagle or Super StratoEagle. The Vulcan should be launched at a neutral or positive attitude at a moderate to high speed. Additional applicable surfaces include flaps, elevators, ailerons, slats, flaperons, elevons, rudders, air brakes, canard trim and an "electronic warfare" tail. Enjoy!